{"id":892,"date":"2012-07-21T13:11:58","date_gmt":"2012-07-21T11:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/web\/?p=892"},"modified":"2012-07-21T13:11:58","modified_gmt":"2012-07-21T11:11:58","slug":"do-miracles-imply-divinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/?p=892","title":{"rendered":"Do Miracles Imply Divinity?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Some associate Jesus with divinity because he performed miracles.\u00a0 Many Unitarian Christians and all Muslims point out that Jesus did indeed perform miracles, but by the will of God and not through any divine powers of his own.\u00a0 To repeat the quote of Acts 2:22:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJesus of Nazareth, a man<\/em> attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did<\/em> through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know\u201d (italics mine)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In conformity with both the Bible and Holy Quran, Muslims contend that the miracles of Jesus were performed by the power of God.\u00a0 As the Holy Quran states,<\/span><\/p>\n

Then will Allah say: \u201cO Jesus the son of Mary! \u00a0Recount My favor to you and to your mother.\u00a0 Behold! \u00a0I strengthened you with the holy spirit, so that you spoke to the people in childhood and in maturity.\u00a0 Behold! \u00a0I taught you the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel.\u00a0 And behold! \u00a0You made out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and you breathed into it, and it became a bird by My leave, and you healed those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave.\u00a0 And behold! \u00a0You brought forth the dead by My leave. (Quran 5:110)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Islamic perspective is that miracles can be God-given signs of prophethood, but don\u2019t imply divinity.\u00a0 Hadith <\/em>(narrations of the words, deeds, appearance, and tacit approvals of Muhammad) relate numerous miracles of Muhammad with greater historical authenticity than found in biblical manuscripts.\u00a0 While the science of hadith<\/em> authentication is regarded as a wonder of historical recordkeeping, the Bible doesn\u2019t satisfy many of the most basic standards of historical accuracy.*<\/a>\u00a0For example, the authors of most of the books of the Bible (gospels included) are unknown, the time period in which they were written is ill-defined, and the source of much of the information is ambiguous.\u00a0 These issues will be discussed later at greater length, but just as a small teaser, let\u2019s examine the story of Judas\u2019 betrayal of Jesus to the chief priests.\u00a0 Who was the author, and why should we believe him? \u00a0Was he present at the betrayal? \u00a0If not, then where did he get his information? \u00a0And if so, and he didn\u2019t alert Jesus, then isn\u2019t he a partner to the crime? \u00a0And what kind of a gospel author would that<\/em> be?<\/span><\/p>\n

Sounds silly? \u00a0Maybe.\u00a0 But then again, isn\u2019t it sillier to trust salvation to a compilation of gospels and letters of unknown origin and authorship?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jesus Seminar is perhaps one of the most objective and sincere attempts of an ecumenical council of Christian scholars to determine the authenticity of the recorded acts and sayings of Jesus.\u00a0 Yet their methodology involves casting votes! \u00a0Two thousand years after the ministry of Jesus, nearly two hundred scholars are formulating a collective Christian opinion regarding the reliability of the quotes and historical reports of Jesus by casting colored beads.\u00a0 For example, as regards the reported words of Jesus, the definitions of the bead colors are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

Red\u2014Jesus said it or something very close to it.\u00a0 Pink\u2014Jesus probably said something like it, although his words have suffered in transmission.\u00a0 Gray\u2014these are not his words, but the ideas are close to his own.\u00a0 Black\u2014Jesus did not say it; the words represent the Christian community or a later point of view.[1]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Other Christian committees have attempted to authenticate Bible texts by similar methodologies.\u00a0 The editors of the United Bible Societies\u2019 The Greek New Testament: Second Edition<\/em> are alphabetically minded:<\/span><\/p>\n

By means of the letters A, B, C, and D, enclosed within \u201cbraces\u201d {} at the beginning of each set of textual variants the Committee has sought to indicate the relative degree of certainty, arrived at the basis of internal considerations as well as of external evidence, for the reading adopted as the text.\u00a0 The letter A signifies that the text is virtually certain, while B indicates that there is some degree of doubt.\u00a0 The letter C means that there is a considerable degree of doubt whether the text of the apparatus contains the superior reading, while D shows that there is a very high degree of doubt concerning the reading selected for the text.[2]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Bruce M. Metzger describes using similar methodology in his A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament.\u00a0 <\/em>\u201cIn fact,\u201d he writes, \u201camong the {D} decisions sometimes none of the variant readings commended itself as original, and therefore the only recourse was to print the least unsatisfactory reading.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Now doesn\u2019t that<\/em> give us a warm, secure feeling in trusting the Bible with the salvation of mankind?<\/span><\/p>\n

But I digress.\u00a0 The point is that these ranking systems are probably about the best possible, given the limitations of the biblical record, but what a sad comment that is! \u00a0Compared to the exquisitely refined system of hadith<\/em> authentication, these colored-bead and A-B-C-D classification systems are a bit wanting, to say the least.<\/span><\/p>\n

The historical record keeping is relevant, for when a person hears a story\u2014even a credible story at that\u2014the first question is usually \u201cWhere did you hear that?\u201d \u00a0Any reasonable set of historical standards includes the identification and verification of sources.\u00a0 The Holy Quran and many hadith<\/em> traditions satisfy the highest degrees of authentication.\u00a0 But the majority of Bible verses don\u2019t.*<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

How does this relate to the issue at hand? \u00a0Simple.\u00a0 The miracles that occurred through Muhammad are no less numerous or impressive than those of Jesus, and are witnessed by an unimpeachable historical record that puts all others of similar time period to shame.\u00a0 So just as the miracles of Moses, Elisha, and Muhammad don\u2019t imply divinity, neither do those of Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at a few examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus fed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread.\u00a0 <\/strong>But Elisha fed a hundred people with twenty barley loaves and a few ears of corn (2 Kings 4:44); granted a widow such an abundant flow of oil from a jar that she was able to pay off her debts, save her sons from slavery, and live on the profits (2 Kings 4:1-7); and gave increase to a handful of flour and spot of oil such that he, a widow and her son had enough to eat for many days, after which \u201cThe bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry \u2026\u201d (1 Kings 17:10-16).\u00a0 So what does that make Elisha? \u00a0The historical record of Muhammad feeding the masses with a handful of dates on one occasion, a pot of milk on another, and enough meat for a small party on still another are equally miraculous.\u00a0 Likewise are the stories of his watering the masses (1,500 people on one occasion) from a single bowl of water.\u00a0 Yet no Muslim claims divinity for Muhammad.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus healed the lepers.<\/strong> Likewise, Elisha healed Naaman (2 Kings 5:7-14).\u00a0 For that matter, the disciples were bidden to such service in Matthew 10:8.\u00a0 What does that make them?<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus cured a blind man. <\/strong>Elisha not only struck his enemies blind, but restored vision to the blind through prayer (2 Kings 6:17-20).\u00a0 Muhammad reportedly cured blindness through prayer as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus raised the dead.<\/strong> Once again, Elisha beat him to it, having raised two children from the dead (1 Kings 17:22 and 2 Kings 4:34).\u00a0 Furthermore, the disciples were bidden to raise the dead (Matthew 10:8).\u00a0 So once again, what does that make them?<\/span><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus walked on water.<\/strong> Had he been around in the time of Moses, he wouldn\u2019t have had to.<\/span><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus cast out devils.<\/strong> So did his disciples (Matthew 10:8).\u00a0 So did the sons of the Pharisees (Matthew 12:27 and Luke 11:19).\u00a0 So, for that matter, do the wayward followers whom Jesus will reportedly disown (see Matthew 7:22)\u2014a disconcerting thought considering how many priests and ministers perform such theatrics, even if real.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if we seek evidence of Jesus being divine, we are forced to look beyond miracles.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2007 Laurence B. Brown<\/span><\/p>\n

Permission granted for free and unrestricted reproduction if reproduced in entirety without omissions, additions or alterations.<\/span><\/p>\n

A graduate of Cornell University, Brown University Medical School and George Washington University Hospital residency program, Laurence B. Brown is an ophthalmic surgeon, a retired Air Force officer, and the medical director and chief ophthalmologist of a major eye center. He is also an ordained interfaith minister with a doctorate in divinity and a PhD in religion, and the author of a number of books of comparative religion and reality-based fiction. His works can be found on his website, www.LevelTruth.com.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Footnotes:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/a>\u00a0For more in-depth study, the reader is referred to Hadith Literature: Its Origins, Development and Special Features<\/em>, by Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi (Islamic Texts Society, London, 1993), and Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature<\/em>, by Muhammad Mustafa Azami (American Trust Publications, Indianapolis, 1977).<\/span><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0Funk, Robert Walter. 1996. Honest to Jesus, Jesus for a New Millennium<\/em>. Polebridge Press. p. 8.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0Aland, Kurt, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger & Allen Wikgren (Editors). 1968. The Greek New Testament<\/em>. Second Edition. United Bible Societies. pp. x-xi.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. Introduction, p. 14.<\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/a>\u00a0Whereas hadith are preserved work-for-word, \u201cthere are more differences among our [biblical] manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament\u201d \u2013 Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus<\/em>. p. 10.<\/span><\/p>\n

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